Gour Govinda Swami:
Translation:
Through polluted intelligence one is subjected to the modes of nature, and thus one is conditioned by material existence. Like a dreaming state in which one falsely suffers, material existence, which is due to ignorance, must be considered unwanted and temporary.
Purport:
The unwanted condition of temporary life is called ignorance. One can very easily understand that the material body is temporary, for it is generated at a certain date and ends at a certain date, after undergoing the six kinds of change, namely birth, death, growth, maintenance, transformation and dwindling. This condition of the eternal soul is due to his ignorance, and although it is temporary, it is unwanted. Because of ignorance one is put into temporary bodies one after another. The spirit soul, however, does not need to enter such temporary bodies. He does so only due to his ignorance or his forgetfulness of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore in the human form of life, when one’s intelligence is developed, one should change his consciousness by trying to understand Kṛṣṇa. Then one can be liberated. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (4.9), where the Lord says:
janma karma ca me divyam
evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ
tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma
naiti mām eti so ’rjuna
“One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.” Unless one understands Kṛṣṇa and comes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one must continue in material bondage. To end this conditional life, one must surrender to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Indeed, that is demanded by the Supreme Lord. Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja.
As advised by Mahārāja Ṛṣabhadeva, na sādhu manye yata ātmano ’yam asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ. One must be intelligent enough to understand that although one’s body is temporary and will not endure for long, as long as one has a body he must undergo the pangs of material existence. Therefore, if by good association, by the instructions of a bona fide spiritual master, one takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, his conditional life of material existence is vanquished, and his original consciousness, known as Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is revived. When one is Kṛṣṇa conscious, he can realize that material existence, whether one is awake or dreaming, is nothing but a dream and has no factual value. This realization is possible by the grace of the Supreme Lord. This grace is also present in the form of the instructions of Bhagavad-gītā. Therefore Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mission is for everyone to engage in welfare activities to awaken the foolish living entity, especially in human society, so that he may come to the platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and benefit by liberation from conditional life.
In this connection, Śrīla Madhvācārya cites the following verses:
duḥkha-rūpo ’pi saṁsāro
buddhi-pūrvam avāpyate
yathā svapne śiraś chedaṁ
svayaṁ kṛtvātmano vaśaḥ
tato duḥkham avāpyeta
tathā jāgarito ’pi tu
jānann apy ātmano duḥkham
avaśas tu pravartate
One must realize that the material condition of life is full of distresses. One can realize this with purified intelligence. When one’s intelligence is purified, he can understand that unwanted, temporary, material life is just like a dream. Just as one suffers pain when his head is cut off in a dream, in ignorance one suffers not only while dreaming but also while awake. Without the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one continues in ignorance and is thus subjected to material distresses in various ways.
(6.07) One suffers from the modes of material nature. One is subjected to the modes of material nature. Why? Why does he suffer? Why is he subjected to the modes of material nature? What is its reason?
Nrharī: Because he has forgotten Kṛṣṇa.
Gour Govinda Swami: He has forgotten Kṛṣṇa. Why? Why has he forgotten Kṛṣṇa?
Nrharī: He wants to enjoy.
Gour Govinda Swami: Because his intelligence is polluted. Due to his polluted intelligence, he has forgotten Kṛṣṇa and therefore he is subjected to the modes of nature. (7.06, speaks in Oṛiyā). (7.15) This we say: (Bhagavad-gītā 3.42, second to fourth lines)
"indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur
indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ
manasas tu parā buddhir
yo buddheḥ paratas tu saḥ".
Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā says. Do you understand this verse from Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā? (repeats above). Mind is superior to the senses, and intelligence is superior to the mind. And who is superior to intelligence? The ātma. "yo buddheḥ paratas tu saḥ".
So, what are you? Are you the senses, or mind, or intelligence, or the soul? What are you?
Nrharī: I am the soul.
Gour Govinda Swami: Yes, you are the soul. Then, the senses, mind, and intelligence are subordinate to you. You are superior to all of these. So, they are subordinate to you. They are not your masters. Are they?
Nrharī: No.
Gour Govinda Swami: No. You are the master. You are the master of the senses, of the mind, and also of intelligence. Then the question arises: When you are the master of intelligence, which is superior to the mind, and the mind is superior to the senses—why is the intelligence polluted? Who is responsible for it?
Nrharī: Myself.
Gour Govinda Swami: You yourself are responsible for it. You know it?
Nrharī: Unless the spiritual master says, I can’t understand.
Gour Govinda Swami: Yes, that is a fact. You don't understand it. You don't know it. Unless you are fortunate enough to meet a bona-fide spiritual master and be instructed by him, then you can understand. Otherwise, you don't understand it. And you are responsible for this—the pollution of your intelligence, the forgetfulness of Kṛṣṇa, and your suffering in this material existence. And this material existence, or material life, is—here Prahlāda Mahārāja says—it is like a dream. It is like a dreaming state. Is the dreaming state factual? No. It is a dreaming state. While you are asleep, when you fall asleep, in the deep sleep state—in the previous verse Prahlāda Mahārāja has said there are three states. What are those?
Nrharī: Awakening state, dreaming state, and deep sleep.
Gour Govinda Swami: Deep sleep state. Jāgaraṇam avasthā, svapna avasthā, and suṣuptiḥ nidrā avasthā. Awakening state, dreaming state, and deep sleep state. So, that dreaming state, or the dream you see... or you see that your head is cut off. As Madhvācārya has cited verses, Śrīla Prabhupāda, our beloved spiritual master, has also given verses in his purport. Then you cry—"Oh, my head is cut off!" You suffer, isn’t it? In a dream, when you see that you have become the king of heaven, then you are very happy and enjoy. And you see that you are dancing with the angels, all the dancing girls in heaven, like Urvasi and Menakā, isn’t it, in the dream? When the dream vanishes and you wake up—"Oh, I am sleeping here! I am in my cot, sleeping." Where... I have seen that I’ve become Indra, the king of heaven, and was dancing with the dancing girls up there. "Oh, where is it?" It is nothing. This dream is false.
Similarly, this material existence in which you suffer, and also in which you experience some pleasure—sukha-duḥkha. Some material pleasure, the consequence of which is suffering—samsparśa-jā bhoga. "Ye hi samsparśa-jā bhogā duḥkha-yoniḥ eva te ady-antavantaḥ kaunteya na teṣu ramate budhaḥ" (Bhagavad-gītā 5.22).
The Bhagavad-gītā says this.
Lord Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna: "O Kaunteya, O son of Kunti, na teṣū ramate budhaḥ." One who is a buddhaḥ—a wise person, an intelligent person—is not interested in this material life. Because the consequence of this existence in material life is duḥkhaḥ, distress, misery. "duḥkha-yona eva te." "Samsparśa-jā bhoga duḥkha-yona eva te." The material nature is very, very enchanting—"prakṛtiṁ mohinīṁ śṛtāḥ" (Bhagavad-gītā 9.12). That is stated in the Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā.
Prakṛti means material nature. Mohinīṁ means enchanting. Nrharī, come to my lap, come to my lap. You see—māyā assumes the form of a beautiful young maiden with a nice flower garland in her hand, inviting you: "Nrharī, come, come, come. I'll put this nice garland around your neck and you’ll enjoy me, enjoy me." This is the enchantment of māyā, of this material nature. This enchantment.
Our beloved spiritual master Śrīla Prabhupāda has given very nice illustrations in the Bhagavad-gītā book—have you seen? The spiritual master... there are so many stages leading to Kṛṣṇa, the all-beautiful Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. The spiritual master is directing towards Kṛṣṇa, calling the conditioned soul or lifting the conditioned soul from the deep, dark well of material existence, leading up to Kṛṣṇa. "Please—so beautiful Kṛṣṇa—you are His. You are His! You are an eternal part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is your supreme father, you are His son, child. Please come to Him." He is all-blissful, all-pleasure. He is sat-cid-ānanda-vigraha. He is eternal. He is full of knowledge and bliss, full of pleasure. There is no question of distress or miseries there. You please come.
The conditioned soul, by the instructions of such a sādhu or guru, looks at Kṛṣṇa. Then, behind, māyā is there, enchanting with a nice flower garland, a very beautiful maiden, a young girl. "Oh, please look at me! Come, come, come." The conditioned soul is looking at her—again looking at Kṛṣṇa. What to do? Where to go? Go there, or go there? Isn't it? Are you in such a state, Nrharī?
When the spiritual master is directing towards Kṛṣṇa—looking at Kṛṣṇa... then māyā—nice flower garland—Nrharī, come, come, come! Come to my lap, come to my lap. So, you are looking at Kṛṣṇa... again looking—oh! You can't decide where to go.
If you have purified intelligence, by the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by the grace of the spiritual master, then—kicking māyā, "Get out of here!!" I’ll go there (to Kṛṣṇa)! Then you can kick māyā. "mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etam taranti te" (Bhagavad-gītā 7.14). Kṛṣṇa says this in the Bhagavad-gītā.
Kṛṣṇa is the master of māyā. He is māyā-dīśa. But what are you? You are māyā-dāsa. He is māyā-dīśa and you are māyā-dāsa! "Jīve Kṛṣṇe veda"—this is the difference between Kṛṣṇa and the living entity. Do you understand? You can't understand? You understand, Nrharī?
Nrharī: When you speak...
Gour Govinda Swami: I speak this thing: "jīve Kṛṣṇe veda." This is the distinction between jīva, the living entity, and Kṛṣṇa. The jīva is Kṛṣṇa-dāsa, whereas Kṛṣṇa is māyā-dīśa. The living entity is subjected to māyā, whereas Kṛṣṇa is the master of māyā. This is the distinction between jīva and Kṛṣṇa, the living entity and Kṛṣṇa. "Kṛṣṇa-dāsa, māyā-dāsa, māyā-dīśa."
You should know these words: "māyā-dāsa - māyā-dīśa," "jīve Kṛṣṇe veda."
But your constitutional position is that you are an eternal part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. You are an eternal servitor of Kṛṣṇa—"jīvera svarūpa haya-Kṛṣṇera nitya-dāsa" (Cc M 20.108). You are an eternal servitor of Kṛṣṇa, but due to your polluted intelligence, you have forgotten this. And you are subjected to the modes of material nature—māyā. Captured by māyā, you are suffering in this material existence, experiencing the threefold material miseries.
So, you should, if you are an intelligent person—"brahmāṇḍa brahmite kona bhāgyavān jīva, guru-Kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja" (Cc M 19.151). Here it is stated: "bhāgyavān jīva." "Bhāgyavān" means fortunate, as we say in English. "Brahmāṇḍa brahmite"—undergoing so many species of life in so many planetary systems, in so many universes, the living entity is moving, wandering in so many universes, undergoing so many species of life. This is all material existence. But if one is "bhāgyavān", that means if one is fortunate enough—"guru-Kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja."
In this version: One is bhāgyavān, one is fortunate. Mahājanas say so, ācāryas say so: "brahmāṇḍa brahmite kona bhāgyavān jīva guru-Kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja." If he is fortunate enough, he will come in contact with a bona-fide spiritual master. 'Guru-kripa' and 'Kṛṣṇa-kripa'. 'Guru-Kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja'. 'Guru-kripa'—kripa means mercy, the spiritual master's mercy, and 'Kṛṣṇa-kripa'—Kṛṣṇa's mercy. 'Guru-Kṛṣṇa-kripa'—getting guru-kripa and Kṛṣṇa-kripa, the mercy of the spiritual master and the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, he comes to this path of devotion, 'bhakti-latā-bīja'.
How do you know what is guru-kripa and Kṛṣṇa-kripa? What do you know about this? Do you understand anything?
Nrharī: By surrendering oneself to the lotus feet of the spiritual master.
Gour Govinda Swami: That is what—guru-kripa or Kṛṣṇa-kripa? Two kripas, two mercies—guru-kripa and Kṛṣṇa-kripa. The mercy of the spiritual master is number one, then the mercy of Kṛṣṇa—Kṛṣṇa-kripa, number two. What do you mean by this: the mercy of Kṛṣṇa and the mercy of the guru?
Nrharī: Kṛṣṇa helps you to find a bona-fide spiritual master. Kṛṣṇa helps a wandering spirit soul to find a bona-fide spiritual master. This is Kṛṣṇa's mercy.
Gour Govinda Swami: This is Kṛṣṇa-kripa.
Nrharī: And by the mercy of the guru, the spiritual master, the living entity can know Kṛṣṇa, can come to understand the relationship with Kṛṣṇa.
Gour Govinda Swami: So, which is required? Kṛṣṇa-kripa required, or only guru-kripa required?
Nrharī: Both.
Gour Govinda Swami: Both are required. Which comes first? If the question of two is there, one may come first and the other may come later.
Nrharī: Guru comes first.
Gour Govinda Swami: Guru comes first? Is it true?
Nrharī: Kṛṣṇa first.
Gour Govinda Swami: You are speaking both. First you say guru comes first, then you say Kṛṣṇa comes first. Which is correct?
Nrharī: Lord Kṛṣṇa, because Kṛṣṇa helps you to reach the guru, the bona-fide spiritual master.
Gour Govinda Swami: Kṛṣṇa-kripa is the first thing. Then, by getting Kṛṣṇa-kripa, you can meet the guru. Then you get guru-kripa, and then you can approach Kṛṣṇa. You cannot have a direct approach to Kṛṣṇa. Then a question arises—who gets Kṛṣṇa-kripa? Can all get it? Are all getting it? No. Then who gets it?
Nrharī: One who is fortunate enough.
Gour Govinda Swami: Fortunate? What do you mean by that fortune, good fortune? What do you mean by that? We say, "brahmāṇḍa brahmite kona bhāgyavān jīva guru-Kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja." We say it. What do you mean by that? "Brahmāṇḍa brahmite kona bhāgyavān"—bhāgyavān means fortunate. What is that good fortune?
Nrharī: Due to some past sukṛti.
Gour Govinda Swami: Sukṛti. Yes. Yes, yes, tell me. Don't be afraid.
Nrharī: Bhakti-sukṛti, jñāna-sukṛti...
Gour Govinda Swami: Three types of sukṛti are there: karma-unmukhi-sukṛti, jñāna-unmukhi-sukṛti, and bhakti-unmukhi-sukṛti. Three types of sukṛti are there. You know it, isn't it? What is the result of karma-unmukhi-sukṛti?
Nrharī: Karma-sukṛti is to elevate one to the heavenly planets.
Gour Govinda Swami: Yes, thereby he is elevated to the heavenly planets and enjoys. He gets much enjoyment. That is the result of karma-unmukhi-sukṛti. Then, jñāna-unmukhi-sukṛti?
Nrharī: Jñāna-sukṛti is for one, it makes one achieve brahmajyoti.
Gour Govinda Swami: Yes. The result of jñāna-unmukhi-sukṛti goes up to brahmajyoti, the impersonal brahman effulgence. Then, what is the result of bhakti-unmukhi-sukṛti?
Nrharī: When one meets a bona-fide spiritual master and surrenders himself.
Gour Govinda Swami: Yes. That is the result of bhakti-unmukhi-sukṛti—that he comes to the path of devotional service. He associates with sādhu-sanga, association with sādhu. That is the result of bhakti-unmukhi-sukṛti—that one gets the association of sādhu. "Sei jīva sādhu-sanga ye karaya" (Cc 23.9). Then, by association with sādhu, he can understand: Who am I? What is my constitutional position? What is my supreme destination? And how can I achieve it? All these things he can understand.
This is a famous verse (repeats śloka) "brahmāṇḍa... latā-bīja." Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupāda Mahārāja very often speaks this verse, quotes this verse (repeats) "brahmāṇḍa... latā-bīja." Very often he quotes this verse. Why? Do you know why he quotes this verse very often? Do you know it? You don't know? You know?
Devotee: Yasyāt prasādaṁ bhagavad-prasādaṁ...
Gour Govinda Swami: Yes, tell me.
Devotee: Without the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, you can't get guru, and without the mercy of guru, you can't get Kṛṣṇa.
Gour Govinda Swami: Thereby, he teaches the conditioned souls, the wandering souls in this material existence, that you become fortunate—bhāgyavān. You are unfortunate now, isn't it? Are you fortunate or unfortunate?
Nrharī: I am fortunate.
Gour Govinda Swami: You are fortunate. I am unfortunate. You are fortunate, so give some of your fortune to me, Nrharī. The wandering soul, or the wandering living entity, is very unfortunate. So, he will be fortunate, or good fortune will arise, at that time when he gets Kṛṣṇa prasāda and Guru prasāda and comes to this path of devotional service. Where are you now? In this material world or the spiritual world? Yes? Where are you now?
Nrharī: I am going to the spiritual world.
Gour Govinda Swami: That's not my question. My question is: where are you now? What is your present condition? Or present existence? Are you in this material world or the spiritual world?
Nrharī: I am in the material world.
Gour Govinda Swami: You are in the material world, isn't it? A conditioned soul means he is in the material world. And that conditioned soul thinks that he is the inhabitant of this place, the material world. Is it true?
Nrharī: No.
Gour Govinda Swami: It is not true. We are not the inhabitants of this material world, because we are spirit souls—sat-cit-ānanda-maya (made of eternal existence, consciousness, and bliss). So, we have to stay in that spiritual existence—sat-cit-ānanda-maya-dhāma (the spiritual abode). But by misfortune, we are here. This is not our place. This is our misfortune, isn't it? Did you say yes?
Nrharī: Yes.
Gour Govinda Swami: Yes, yes. Why don't you say so? Yes! And why does it happen? Why does it happen? Why are jīvas, living entities, put here in this material existence and made to suffer? Why?
Nrharī: Because their intelligence is polluted.
Gour Govinda Swami: Because their intelligence is polluted. How is it polluted?
Nrharī: By material contamination.
Gour Govinda Swami: By abusing their minute intelligence. Yesterday we were talking about this, saying that, wasn't it? By the abuse of minute intelligence, the jīva suffers. Kṛṣṇa is supremely independent, and you, jīva, being His eternal part and parcel, are endowed with minute independence. Because He is vibhu (infinite, all-pervading) and you are anu (atomic). He is very great, and you are atomic, minute. Therefore, you are endowed with minute independence. Because He is vibhu and you are anu, atomic. He is very great, and you are atomic, minute. Therefore, you have minute independence. Independence means (that) you have been given freedom. You may act as you like. 'karuṇayā dāktam' (...?...34.58) we say. Out of mercy, Kṛṣṇa has granted you this independence. This is Kṛṣṇa's mercy. If He wouldn't have granted this, what would have been our fate? If Kṛṣṇa does not show mercy and wouldn't have granted this independence to us, then what would have been our fate? Tell me. You don't know? You know?
Devotee: There would be no ability to love Kṛṣṇa.
Gour Govinda Swami: No, you cannot, we cannot be called jīva, animate beings. We might be inanimate objects. Because this is an inanimate object—it has no independence. Does it? No. But we have independence. If we desire, or if you desire, you can go from this place to that place. But this cannot (the table). This is due to independence. This is the difference between animate and inanimate objects. I have already explained this once. You are forgetting. You don't know? Are you such a rascal, foolish? You are recording all this, aren't you hearing all this?
Nrharī: So many...
Gour Govinda Swāmī: You should hear and you should understand it clearly, and you should realize it. Don't forget. So, we are fortunate that Kṛṣṇa, out of causeless mercy, granted this independence. Therefore, we are called jīvas, living entities, not non-living animate objects. So, this independence is a most valuable thing. When you... and there are two types of using it. How you can use it is up to you. You may make its proper use, or you may abuse it. That is up to you. And Kṛṣṇa watches this thing – yes, I have given him this independence – now I'll watch how it is being used. Is the jīva, the living entity, using it properly or abusing it? What is the proper use and abuse? What is the abusing of this independence? You know? Yes, tell me.
Nrharī: The proper use of independence is to become Kṛṣṇa conscious.
Gour Govinda Swāmī: Yes.
Nrharī: And the improper use is to forget Kṛṣṇa and try...
Gour Govinda Swāmī: ...trying to enjoy and lord over this material nature and be the master of māyā. That is the abuse of independence. As I was telling, by the direction, by the instruction of the spiritual master, the human being is looking at the guru... I mean... Kṛṣṇa, then back towards māyā. That is his independence, whether he accepts Kṛṣṇa or māyā.
So, he is a fortunate person; he is considered fortunate, one who kicks māyā and goes to Kṛṣṇa, takes the instruction of the spiritual master very seriously, and comes to the path of devotion. 'brahmāṇḍa brahmite... bhakti-latā-bīja' – the first thing is Kṛṣṇa-kr̥pā, and the next thing is guru-kr̥pā. Because you cannot have this direct approach to Kṛṣṇa.
But if you are intelligent... if that which you say is true, if you have some ajñāta-sukṛti (past good fortune), bhakti-unmukhi-sukṛti – by the result, by the consequence of that sukṛti, you will meet, you will associate with a sādhū. That is the result of bhakti-unmukhi-sukṛti. And if you are very eager, very eager, asking, "How can I now, by the association of a sādhū, understand that I am the spirit soul, an eternal servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead? How can I approach Him? How can I get Him?" You are very eager, you are crying for it. 'aiśī nāda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ... vicintaya' (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya 20.32). Śrīman Mahāprabhu says this. This is crying. This is praying with folded hands from the core of your heart to Kṛṣṇa – 'aiśī nāda-tanuja' – O son of Nanda Mahārāja, Kṛṣṇa, 'kiṅkaraṁ' – I am Your servant, 'kiṅkaraṁ' means servant, eternal servant. 'patitaṁ mam viśame bhavāmbudhau' – but that is my misfortune that I have been put here in this dreadful material ocean of existence, wherein I am suffering from the threefold material miseries. 'patitaṁ mam viśame bhavāmbudhau'.
'Kṛpāya tava pada-pāñkaja sthita-dhūli-sadṛśam vicintaya' – O Kṛṣṇa, please shower mercy on me. Just pick me up from this dreadful material ocean and think of me as a speck of dust at Your lotus feet. When you pray like that, when you are very eager, when you cry for this, then you receive Kṛṣṇa-kr̥pā. This is Kṛṣṇa-kr̥pā. Oh, now he is crying for Me, Kṛṣṇa thinks. He is inside your heart as Paramātmā, the Supersoul. "Oh, he is very eager now to get Me, to approach Me, and is crying for Me," so He showers His mercy. Then you meet the guru, the bona fide spiritual master: 'tad viddhi praṇipatena... tattva-darśinaḥ' (Bhagavad-gītā 4.34). That Bhagavad-gītā teaches. Then you meet... 'tad vijñānam... brahma-niṣṭham' (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.12).
The Upaniṣad says the same thing. When you are very eager to know this science, vijñāna, then you approach a bona fide spiritual master who is – 'śrotrīyam brahma-niṣṭham', one who is firmly situated in Brahman, who comes in the hearing process – 'śrota-para-pūjya' (...?... 43.11), disciplic succession, bona fide disciplic succession. One who has heard from his spiritual master. This is the hearing process; it is śrota-para-pūjya. This is the descending process, not the ascending process.
The Mayāvādīs, the Jñānīs, adopt this process—the ascending process. But we, the devotees (bhaktas), the Vaiṣṇavas, adopt this process—the descending process. There are two processes: inductive and deductive logic. Are you a student of logic? No? Those who are students of logic know inductive logic and deductive logic; the ascending and descending processes are the same thing.
So, you surrender yourself at the lotus feet of the guru, the spiritual master who is the representative of Kṛṣṇa, serve him, please him, and then inquire—tattva-jijñāsā. Then, out of mercy, the guru, if pleased with you, will impart this knowledge. This is guru-kr̥pā. Through the help of the guru, you can now approach the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. Now your intelligence will be purified. That impurity is gone. By the mercy of the guru, the intelligence is purified. Kṛṣṇa gives that purified intelligence—teṣām satata-yuktānām... upayanti te (Bhagavad-gītā 10.10). Because, by dint of purified intelligence, you can approach Him, not by impure intelligence.